In a move to stabilise the falling prices of black gram in the open market, the Telangana Government has decided to go for market intervention with the help of the Centre, by taking up procurement of the pulse-crop at 14 purchase centres from Wednesday under the minimum support price (MSP) operations scheme.
Against the MSP of ₹5,400 per quintal fixed for black gram by the Centres for 2017-18 kharif season, the prices of one of the main pulse-crops is ruling only in the range of ₹2,500 per quintal to ₹4,615 per quintal in the open market. Minister for Marketing T. Harish Rao directed the officials of the Telangana State Cooperation Marketing Federation (TS-Markfed) on Tuesday to open 14 purchase centres on behalf of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (Nafed).
The purchase centres would be opened at Madnoor, Jukkal, Bichkunda and Pitlam in Kamareddy district, at Bodhan in Nizamabad, at Zaheerabad, Narayankhed and Vatpalli in Sangareddy, at Kuber, Bhainsa, Jainoor and Mudhole in Nirmal, at Vikarabad and Tandur in Vikarabad either in agriculture market committees or in District Cooperative Marketing Societies.
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According to the Agriculture Department officials, the black gram crop has been cultivated on 0.30 lakh hectares this season against 0.46 lakh hectares last year. The Bureau of Economics and Statistics has estimated the production at 19,000 tonnes this season against 34,000 tonnes last year.
At the national level the production of black gram is, however, estimated at 2.53 million tonnes this season against 2.17 million tonnes in the last kharif.
Mr. Harish Rao thanked the Centre for agreeing to take up procurement of black gram before October itself as it had done with regard to green gram under MSP operations. The Minister stated that the Centre had agreed to procure 6,680 tonnes, over one-third of the estimated production, of blackgram.
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